Facebook recently marked its 12th birthday, and is also celebrating the 1.5 billion active user-base on the platform. The first code for Facebook was written in January 2004, as a student’s community network at Harvard University’s campus. No one at that time had predicted that one day this networking initiative will take the shape of a social media giant, literally transforming the way people communicate with each other.
Today, millions of people around the world use this social media platform to find their long lost friends, and rekindle their love for establishing connects with close ones. It is indeed a social utility, where memories and short messages can be shared across friends and relatives from anywhere. In other words, it creates a virtual bond-which is real-time.
However, the social media usage is not just restricted to its initially established social boundaries, or definition. It has been used over and over by the brands, to establish relationships with the target users. It also enables users to share video, images and a lot more, that have proved to be very useful tools for connectivity during various crises. One recent example was during Chennai floods where people collaborated on Facebook to communicate about the situation and to encourage donations.
Last month, Zuckerberg had posted on Facebook asking users to celebrate Facebook’s 12th anniversary as ‘Friends Day’. He had said, “On February 4, I hope you’ll join me in celebrating #friendsday — a moment to celebrate the friendships that have made a difference in your life.”
In an official blog post, Facebook CEO, Zuckerberg said, “That’s what the best movements do. You find ways to keep it focused on the needs of the community, and it’s not about you. And that’s the whole point of Friends Day. We felt like the world was making it too much about us and it’s not about us.”
To mark the occasion of its 12th birthday, Facebook celebrated the occasion with much fanfare-in a form of animated stickers called as ‘Friendship’ and ‘Best Friends’. The stickers bore prints of animal emoticons inspired by characters such as Beast, named after Zuckerberg’s dog, and Pusheen the Cat from an animated web-comic.
Today, people from across age groups are using Facebook for different purposes. Therefore, Facebook is also a top priority for influencers, where they can hone their creative skills to reach out to people with opinions on different subjects. The phenomenal growth that Facebook has seen so far, promises of a future where it will continue to outgrow itself.
